Children&#39;s exercising and amusement apparatus



March 27, 1962 N. P. RUSSO ETAL CHILDREN'S EXERCISING AND AMUSEMENT APPARATUS INVENTOR.

Filed March 3, 1960 nichala, P Russa Walter- F'. Allen nited States Patent 3,026,816 CHILDRENS EXERCISING AND AMUSEMEN APPARATUS Nichola P. Russo, 367 S. Quinsigamond Ave., Shrewsbury,

Mass, and Walter F. Allen, 40 Maplewood Ave., West Boylston, Mass.

Filed Mar. 3, 1960, Ser. No. 12,562 1 Claim. (Cl. 104-113) This invention relates to a childrens exercising and amusement apparatus.

Various forms of trapeze, exercising bars, playground frameworks and other constructions have been employed heretofore for the development of muscle and physique, but such devices often present a lack of excitement or a phase of monotony to the children who may lose interest all to soon.

A primary object of our invention is to provide apparatus which furnishes the excitement involved in rapid motion and yet serves to give a child many opportunities for exercise and pleasure which may be varied as the individual initiative and ingenuity may devise.

Another object of the invention is to provide an economical but efficient structure which will be safe for use and wherein the speed of travel is under the childs control. Other objects will be apparent in the following disclosure.

In accordance with our invention, we have provided a trolley and cable structure adapted to be suspended between two fixed points and along which a child may ride while suspended from the trolley. This suspension feature comprises a support, such as a chair for a tot and preferably a trapeze for the older child on which various calesthenic exercises may be performed.

Referring to the drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 1 is an elevation, partly in section and partly broken away, showing a wire suspended trolley carrying a trapeze;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective detail of the braking mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section through a pulley in the suspensory housing; and

FIG. 4 is a central vertical section of the trolley housing showing the brake which is adapted to engage the cable and control the trolley motion.

The apparatus comprises a cable of wire or suitable material which is suspended substantially horizontally, but with a slight inclination between two supporting walls, such as a housing wall 11 and a tree or post 12 located at a required distance therefrom. At least one end of the cable is secured to a turnbuckle of the usual construction comprising a central frame 14 carrying oppositely threaded screws 15 and 16 so arranged that rotating the frame 14 tends to tighten or loosen the wire 10. The eye of the turnbuckle screw 15 is suitably secured to an eye bolt 17 threaded into the side of the house or other structure. The other turnbuckle member 16 has the end of the wire 10 suitably attached to it, as by means of a clamp 18. At the other end of the wire 10, a screw eye 19 to which the wire end is attached may be suitably threaded into the upright support 12.

The trolley comprises a hollow metal housing 20 of suitable shape having end holes through which the wire 10 passes. The housing is movably supported on the wire by means of, preferably, two grooved wheels or pulleys 22 of the general shape of a tackle block pulley and which are rotatably mounted on axles or bolts 24. The pivot bolts (FIG. 3) are removably mounted in the two parallel side walls 25 of the housing 20 with their axes parallel and horizontal. The pulley grooves are of such sizes that they may ride securely on the suspended cable 3,026,815 Patented Mar. 27, 1962 or wire 10. If desired, ball bearings may be provided for the pulleys 22. This construction is such that if the cable 10 is given a slight degree of inclination, the trolley will ride down the incline from one end to the other.

A long helical compression spring 28 of steel or other suitable metal is mounted on and at the lower end of the cable 10, and it has sufiicient resiliency and ability to compress to a material extent to serve as a buffer to stop the trolley housing gradually and not give a severe impact which might cause injury to a child. This spring 28 may be suitably welded at its ends to metal collars 29 surrounding the cable which aid in the buffer action. The upper collar is larger than the cable hole through the adjacent end of the housing.

The trolley may carry a suitable seat, such as a chair, to carry a small child; but to give an older child enjoyable exercise during his transportation on the trolley, we have provided a trapeze comprising a horizontal bar 32 having side supports 33, such as chains, Wires or rigid pipes suitably secured to the bar adjacent its ends as by means of eye bolts 34. These side chains are shown as secured to eye bolts 35 at the lower ends which, in turn, are mounted near the ends of a cross bar 36 of cylindrical configuration which serves as the trapeze for the child. The side chains 33 are preferably long enough so that the child may sit on the trapeze beneath the supporting bar 32 and have ample room for turning a loop or for various other exercising movements.

To give further interest to the child, the top bar 32, which may be made of wood or preferably tubular metal, is rotatably secured at its center to the housing in such a manner that the child in his muscular contortions may twist the bar around to various positions as well as swing laterally back and forth on the cables 33, if they are made of flexible material, or at least about the line of engagement between the cable and pulleys. This rotary suspension comprises a U-shaped clip 38 bolted at its lower open ends to the medial portion of the cross bar 32. The clip may be secured rigidly to the housing, but preferably the upper end of the clip is secured for pivotal movement about a vertical axis by a fastening which comprises a circular ball bearing 40 having two opposed circular raceways separated by balls and made of standard construction. This may comprise two spaced annular U-shaped or channeled raceways 41 and 42 carrying a set of balls 43 therebetween (FIG. 1). Their construction is such that the inner raceway 42 may turn readily within and relative to the outer one. The outer raceway 41 is supported by the bottom of the housing 20 around a hole therethrough. A somewhat conical shaped member 44 projects downwardly through that hole in the housing and it is shaped to fit against the inner periphery of the inner bearing raceway 42 so as to be suspended there by. Thus the parts 42 and 44 may be considered as unitary, and because of the balls 43 between the raceways the inner cone shaped member 44 may rotate easily about a vertical axis.

The rotary part 44 has its lower end threaded like a bolt and carries a nut 46. The threaded part projects through a central circular hole in the clip 38, and thus by means of the nut 46 the central pivotal member 44 serves to hold the clip 38 on the top of the nut 46 and thereby suspend the trapeze supporting bar 32 revolubly therebeneath. Thus the child may, by his muscular activities, succeed in revolving the trapeze supporting bar 32 about the pivot provided by the 'ball bearings and so have a more exciting ride as the trolley runs down the wire 10.

The above construction may be sufiicient for average activities and particularly where the two ends of the cable have been elevated to provide very slight angle to the wire for movement of the trolley housing therealong.

The spring 28 is normally long enough and of sufiicient resiliency to stop the housing without a too abrupt act1on so that the child need not be thrown from the trapeze. A safety feature has, however, been incorporated in the device so that the child may, if desired, control the speed of the trolley along the wire.

This speed control comprises a brake shoe 50 of suitable material, such as a molded asbestos body or other substance which is commonly found in automobile brake shoes. This shoe is mounted on the under side of a supporting block 52 slidably mounted on the inner sides of walls 25 of the housing 20. The block has opposed grooves 51 (FIG. 2) which slidably engage opposed slide blocks 54 (FIG. 4) on the opposite parallel walls 25 of the housing 20. The brake shoe slide member 50, 52 is normally held in an uppermost position away from the wire cable by means of a helical spring 53 suitably secured between the top of the housing and the top of the slide member 50, 52, so that the brake normally will not touch the cable 10 threaded through the housing immediately below the brake shoe 50. If, however, this brake shoe is drawn downwardly against the cable 10, then the speed of the trolley may be readily controlled by the friction therebetween.

The brake control is effected by means of a wire 55 suitably connected at its upper end to a washer 56 adapted to be drawn down into contact with a lower trans verse arm 58 of the U-shaped clip 59 (FIG. 2) having threaded ends passing upwardly through the slide plate 52 and nuts 60 whereby the clip may be suspended from the slide. This wire 55 passes downwardly through the rotary supporting member 44 which carries the trapeze, and because of its elasticity and flexibility it passes through a suitable hollow cable casing 66, such as a helically wound B-X wire casing, which is suitably secured to the under part of the nut 46 of the pivotal block 44. The lower end of the wire 55 is attached, as by a set screw, to one arm of a bell crank member 62 (FIG. 1) pivoted at 63 on a block 64 secured to one of the links of a suspended chain 33. The lower arm of the bell crank, as shown in FIG. 1, is so positioned that when the child draws the lower bell crank arm 62 toward the chain 33, this tends to pull downwardly on the wire 55 and thus draws the brake shoe 50 into frictional engagement with the cable 10 as it passes thereover. Hence, by adjusting the pressure on the bell crank handle 62, the child may give a desired degree of braking action against the cable 10 and slow down the progress of the trolley. Three pins 65 are mounted in the two side walls of the housing beneath the two pulleys 22 and immediately below the cable 10 within the clip 59. The pins are spaced slightly at a suitable distance so as to hold the wire in a satisfactory relationship with the pulleys as well as the brake shoe.

It will thus be appreciated that a youth may have a quiet ride along the trolley wire 10, or he may make it more exciting by his contortions on the trapeze. At the same time, he may control the speed of the trolley to any desired extent, or if he wishes, he may allow the housing to bump briskly against the cushioning spring 28 with the various attendant motions. The childs ingenuity will develop many forms of amusement as well as salutary exercise. Thus, the apparatus may be made both harmless and exciting in its use. It may be removably mounted at any suitable location and height, such as Over a swimming pool for the benefit of older people with youthful desires for excitement. In that case the bumper end may be supported by a transverse cable over the deep end of the pool, or as desired.

It will now be appreciated that various modifications may be made and that the drawings and description are to be interpreted as setting forth a preferred embodiment of the invention but without imposing limitations on the appended claim.

We claim:

An exercising and amusement apparatus comprising a trolley housing having aligned openings for a tensioned cable passing therethrough, a pair of grooved wheels mounted on horizontal axes in the housing and arranged for riding along the cable, a cross bar beneath the housing, a vertical axis bearing having cooperating inner and outer raceways, the latter being-carried by the housing, means including a hollow pivot supported on the inner raceway which carries the bar and permits free revolution thereof, a pair of side supports suspended from the bar, a child supporting member carried by the side supports, a brake shoe mounted in the housing adjacent the cable and arranged to grip the latter frictionally to retard the movement of the trolley housing, a spring normally holding the brake shoe away from the cable, a flexible cable attached to the shoe and passing downwardly through the hollow pivot and to a position adjacent one of the side supports and means mounted on one of said side supports to force the shoe against the cable which includes a brake lever connected with said flexible cable and engageable by a hand grasping the adjacent side support, the parts being so arranged that a child riding on the supporting member may rotate the latter to face in any direction and may control the speed along the tensioned cable by manipulating the lever while using both hands to engage the side supports.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 247,708 Swett Sept. 27, 1881 654,687 Suter July 31, 1900 801,700 Welp Oct. 10, 1905 913,642 Hood Feb. 23, 1909 1,571,096 Rambin et al Jan. 26, 1926 1,859,180 Thiel May 17, 1932 1,935,711 Hecox et al Nov. 21, 1933 2,469,069 Grazier May 3, 1949 

